


Haven's Best

by ArgentAconit



Category: Haven (TV), Haven - Fandom
Genre: A chance, F/M, Humor, Memories of Colorado, Romance, just a little drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 12:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2191269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentAconit/pseuds/ArgentAconit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haven had a lot of places that claimed they had the best... Whatever. The Grey Gull was the only place other than Rosemary's that held that true. The best coffee, the best waffles and pancakes, the best alcohol, and something that Duke liked to think made it all come together. They had Audrey Parker, the best cop in Haven living right upstairs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haven's Best

The Grey Gull was home to most of the best things in Haven. It had the best shrimp, and the lobster chowder was the most mind-blowingly creamy and perfectly seasoned dish you would ever find in the troubled little town. If you were outside at just the right time the place has the best view of the sunset overlooking the grey waters of the bay. It had the best alcohol- which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering Duke Crocker was the one who procured all of the alcohol because he owned The Grey Gull. He liked to think that his little establishment had one more great thing that Haven and only Haven had. Audrey Parker.

She came to them as a stranger wearing a face that many people could remember from 27 years ago. She was an FBI agent this time, who quit that job to be a cop for their benefit because of The Troubles. Let’s be honest though, we already knew all of this, we already knew about the best waffles, the best lobster chowder, the best alcohol, and we already knew about Audrey Parker. But we don’t know about Duke Crocker.

He was originally a smuggler, a man that wandered the world by traveling the seas and knew all of the best ways to relax, to calm down and just enjoy life. Now? He was supposed to be some kind of savior, some kind of… Troubled Sponge. He was supposed to kill someone with troubled blood and save the rest of that family from the curse. He caved in only once, just one time if only to save one little kid. Audrey knew that it would ruin him on the inside, and she had asked him to do it anyway, because even though they valued their friendship above everything- even though it was clear that he loved her, and in some way, she loved him back… She asked. There were dozens of children out there that needed to be saved from that horrible Trouble, and he did it for her.

The look of regret and anguish on her face when she had asked- though buried because she was afraid to let people see it- that had been enough of an apology. Even though it still hurt to know she would ask again someday if it was something they couldn’t stop her way… He would do it again. He would always say yes to her even if he knew it would rip apart his mind and make him call himself a murderer.

Audrey changed him and it was in a way that Eviny couldn’t even imagine, he didn’t even really notice it until he took a step back and soaked it all in. This was all off topic though, this wasn’t what we started off with. The Grey Gull had the best of most things in Haven. He could tally up to that, the best Crocker now, because of Audrey Parker.

“Hey, Duke? Is there something wrong with the water? I know I paid the bill this month so it can't be that,” He looked up from wiping down the bar top and there Audrey was, standing in the middle of the currently empty bar, in sweatpants and a camisole. He gave one of those Duke smiles and shrugged, “Well, we have water hooked up down here and you’re not on a separate line. I just wet this towel so I’d say our water is working just fine darlin'.”

Audrey made a face of disagreement and he watched her cross her arms in front of her, “I tried to get the bath running but there was a just dribble of water and then nothing at all. Is there someone you know who could take a look at it?” She looked like she was ready to give up and go somewhere else to take a shower. It made him think of the other policeman and Duke didn't like that in the slightest bit.

The confused look he got when he tossed the towel into a bucket on the side of the bar was almost enough to pull a chuckle out of him. Duke was probably too over protective of Audrey considering they never knew when they would find the next troubled person and really? He didn’t like the idea of a troubled guy fooling around in her apartment just over his head. Or the idea of her going to another man's house for a shower, “I’ll take a look at it. Save you the bill for when I need you to do me a special favor.” It got an amused smile and hum out of her, which really was enough to soothe him right now.

When they got to the problem at hand it wasn’t hard to figure out what was wrong with her water. Rocks. Two of them, and some grit that settled between them. This was enough to block off the water lines and cause the problem she had described downstairs. How they got all the way up to the second floor, he had no idea but after pulling them out and putting the faucet back on the wall it was working just fine again, “See there? Looks like all you needed was the Crocker Touch and it’s all-” Water spewed at him from the shower and instantly soaked the rug outside of the bathtub, making Parker just cackle at the scrunched face he made.

“What was that you were saying? The Crocker Touch?” Audrey was grinning at him as he stood up. He pushed his long hair away from his face so he could crack open one eye to look at her.

You couldn’t blame him when he shook his hair out- suddenly thankful he had skipped on the ponytail today, getting squeals out of her as she was sprinkled with cold, fat drops of water. A handsome, toothy grin split his face as she turned away, holding her hands up in front of her to shield her face from the onslaught. Duke figured that made them even for now. He managed to turn the water back off before a towel had dropped on his head to soak up the water. Nimble fingers scrubbing his hair, just for a moment, and then they were gone again, “We should have called a plumber…”

Maybe it was because that action alone was so domestic, but it made him wish that he still had that chance to prove that he could be what Audrey wanted. Granted, it really wasn’t fair that she still refused him, because she wasn’t with Nathan anymore and she kept bringing Duke along all of the time! It was frustrating because he didn’t want to be jealousy material for her to use but at the same time he didn’t want her to be with another person like Chris, or even going back to Nathan. “Now Sweetheart you know that isn’t fair to my ego. I make so many repairs on the boat I can fix the water in your bathroom if you just give me another chance.”

Duke pulled the towel off of his head and easily wiped her face where drips of water had lingered and maybe he looked too long when her smile went from teasing to lazy and relaxed. The way she just seemed to glow when he called her Sweetheart, he had missed that. The last time he saw it was in Colorado and just thinking about that made him wish he could take her back and convince her that even though she had 20 days then, that she didn’t have to do something stupid that would make her have to fix it before she left. He wasn’t going to let her leave without trying to stay first, and if he had just more than a whisper of that… She took the towel back and tsked at him, “It’s not me that you have to convince, you know. I don’t think the shower particularly likes you.” She was scrubbing his hair for him again, arms against his shoulders since she had to stretch just to be able to reach the top of his head.

He huffed at that and looked back at what he would call a spiteful shower still dribbling proudly from its attack on him, though the towel on his head blocked his vision when she moved it to better dry him off. “That mean old thing? Trying to say I’ve lost my touch are you?” Duke could see her grin between shakes of the towel and then saw it grow even more when he was relieved of it, damp hair knotted and twisted on his head. She noticed him staring and ducked her head, trying to contain the smile as she pulled that towel back down to her side and took a step back, “Well master repair-man Crocker, show it what you’ve got."

In the end, he had to call a plumber. They moved out onto the front porch and settled in one of the chairs up there with Bailey’s spiked coffee, because Duke didn’t open until lunch on Sundays, and even then the crowds were small since there was a town law against alcohol on this sacred day. That didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy it for free with a friend, right? A friend… He looked at the blond curled up beside him, his arm propped up on the back of her side of the large chair. “Do you remember Colorado?” He asked, and it got one of the best flushes out of her, “Because I remember it every day, every time I look at you too. There’s still some time… If you wanted to try.”

Audrey had given him this look, something that tugged on him from the inside. She opened her mouth to protest the idea, only for nothing to come out other than the barest noise. He slid his arm off of the chair and rested it on her shoulders, rubbing long, calloused fingers against her bare upper arm and there was this almost wounded look on her face. He knew that look and he drug Audrey in closer to his side, letting her sit her cheek against his shoulder, “We’ll find a way for you to stay… And if you can’t? Well, sweetheart, I’d chase you across the world and even wait 27 years just for you to get back. I mean, I’ll be a little grey then, and you won’t remember me but I would like to think I could get you to love me again. Even if I’ll be 65, who knows maybe you’ll dig old guys,” It got her to laugh and turn her head into his shoulder.

He took a drink of the spiked coffee in hand and sighed around the alcoholic burn of it in his throat. She had gone silent, and it made him almost anxious, but thin, short fingers tucked between his and he relaxed without realizing he had tensed up. He looked over at them, peering through strands of pale gold before she lifted her head to look at him in return. There was a pause, and then a kiss. Nothing like the one in Colorado, but enough to put him at ease, to show that she was willing to go there with him and even if he only had a few more days with her at least he had those days.


End file.
